Lost ? Abandoned ? Colorado mine shaft with gold !!!

[PikesPeakCharlie]

After we left the cellar hole(in my last post) we headed deeper into the canyon,about a half mile further down we stumbled across this small mine shaft. As we were poking around ,we started finding old bottles (nothing to brag about all were plain) scattered among the rocks, a couple of shovel heads and even a metal bed frame. While looking around I noticed some rocks scattered around on the west side of the hole,they all had watercourse formations on them,,,,,,, And low and behold all of them have visible free gold and Calaverite/Sylvanite crystals. First let me apologize for my close up pic's they were hard to take. Some of you might think what I'm calling gold is small pyrite crystals,not so, the free gold in the ore is actually leached out Calaverite crystals, Around here free gold is very rare! but it is found ,usually within 100 feet of the surface,due to millions of years of rainwater and snow melt leaching the tellurides out of the ore. Anyway yesterday was just about as good as it gets,first a cellarhole that produced,and we wll be going back,and a mine with gold ore scattered about, and we will be going back,,,, and we still havent found what we were originally looking for Enjoy the rest of your weekend !!!

 

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[PikesPeakCharlie]

A few more pic's & I forgot to mention that we also found a small piece of his candlestick next to the hole

 

[wheelerite]

very nice!

 

[Bayou Joe]

cool

 

[curbdiggercarl57]

Sweet finds!
Is the gold you found something you have to extract, or once it's cleaned up, worth more to keep in its
original state? I've seen crystalline dug, after the quartz has been dissolved with hydrofluoric(?) acid, a member of
Eureka! detecting club found a museum quality piece years ago.
Kudos!
Carl

 

[PikesPeakCharlie]

Carl, Yes it would have to been extracted,either by crushing & chemical leaching, or by roasting,and then crushing.Or just kept as a collector piece.

 

[Rawhide]

Im learning a lot here. I look for old camps around the mines to detect for relics. But I grab a rock every now and then, and this is a very nice post for me. So heating the crystal first makes it easier to crush later? I take the quartz down to a powder, I have no modern mesh to measure with. I run a small set up under a tree in the backyard. Is the chemical leeching process dangerous to people and animals? My cat is always drinking out of barrels I use for panning. Anyone have any picture of a small portable hand crusher? I have seen terry solomons, but i just smash my ore into half pound samples and use some dish soap and a pan to see whats there. As you know I have stuff walking on me, but I dont actually find enough to worry about collection yet. Great post.

 

[bay pirate]

There's gold in them there hills. Nice digs

 

[PikesPeakCharlie]

Casca , There seems to be a little misunderstanding, This ore is not quartz, it is Pikes Peak granite,with little quartz. The gold ore is in the form of tellurides (actually looks silver) most commonly in the form of Calaverite (blades/crystals) and Sylvanite (looks like solder splattered on the rock) and the rare free gold found within 100 feet of the surface. The large openpit mine operating now crushes the ore,then piles it up,then leaches a sodium cyanide & water solution through the ore,then collects the slury and refines it into visible gold. You can also roast the ore at appx 1800 degrees for like 45 mins, This can also be quite risky ,so dont try it as THE FUMES CAN KILL YOU !!! , also if you roast the ore too long you can actually burn off the gold. But when done correctly & safely !! the gold forms as bubbles on the surface of the rock,then it can be crushed & panned. Please understand I have roasted alot of ore,but in a woodstove in an unlived in building with adequate ventilation and saftey gear. Please,do not try any roasting or chemical leeaching without someone who knows exactly what they are doing ! Lets all be safe and have fun looking for some gold

 

[Rawhide]

This is a hobby, and I have a small area in my back yard I use for panning, and crushing. So after crushing, I still have to heat or use chemicals? Im not set up for that, and that way down the road. I did crush some grey looking crystals which produced a few flakes. That is not what you just described. I will look for splashed solder looking rocks. I have some that accumulated to a piece of white quartz. Im going to have to get some help before I go farther than gathering ore. Thanks for your help.

 

[Army of 1]

Nice photo's , good luck with the Mine , hope its a Bonanza for you guys .. Cheers Mick